


The Eyes of Our Master

by didsomeonesayventus



Series: Re: Birth By Sleep [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: (interquel to canon is that a thing), (ish? Ven is there but also not Birth By Sleep itself), Drabble, Gen, Minor Character Death, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-23 06:35:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9644597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/didsomeonesayventus/pseuds/didsomeonesayventus
Summary: Observe was all the Master said to do.





	

“Terra, this is the right place?” Aqua sighed. Her eyes darted over cobblestone streets and over people giving them leering looks. She tapped her chest, expecting to find her Mark of Mastery as given to her by Eraqus, but found her fingers playing with the shawl draped over her head and shoulders.

“It’s somewhere.” Terra said, joining in her search. He grabbed her arm and lead her aside, “Come on, we should get moving.”

Eventually that grip upon her arm slackened enough for her to follow behind, close enough for his rusted cloak to lick at her steps before it became waterlogged with melting snow. “It’s winter here.” Aqua said softly.

“What about it?”

“I’m... cold. And observing, like the master said.” She replied. Terra chuckled at that, a little low. The warmth of it against the winter air allowed her to track the puffs of breath till they brushed past her, too weak to know of save that telltale cloud. She rushed forward, even with him now, “Why do you get actual gloves?!”

“I dunno!” He snapped back, holding up the offending digits, “Magic does what magic does.”

“I don’t think you should be the one saying that.” Aqua said at her fingers buried themselves in her scarf for sweet relief. Her arms were fine, if somewhat chilly, but fingerless gloves in winter was not the best idea. She had to relent, though, “But yes, the transformations of the Keyblade are wholly affected by the forms of your heart. Not your will, but who you are.” She leaned forward, “Are you paying attention, Terra?”

“I’m observing,” he said with a smirk, “Like the Master said.”

Aqua stormed in front of him, holding up her hand, “Okay, where are we?”

Terra looked askance, “I was observing the people...”

Aqua stepped back and folded her arms, “So you don’t know where we are?”

“No, but I do know people haven’t been giving us funny looks, they’ve been giving YOU funny looks.” Terra said. He then pulled her aside again, “Aqua, maybe we’ve done enough-”

“Terra, I can handle myself.” Aqua pulled her arm from his grasp. They stared at each other for some time, Aqua’s shoulders defiantly squared and Terra’s jaw set. Aqua turned to the city first, “Now, where were we...”

Terra’s gaze followed hers, “Observing.” He looked around, “Not like there’s much to observe when everyone’s inside.” His hand drifted to his armor, “Maybe we should go.”

He looked up to see Aqua running off, and he ran after her, “Aqua?!”

Aqua, meanwhile, had hitched up her skirts, rushing ahead. Burned into her eyes was the image of a woman in flight pursued by a coal-black horse (the rider she had not gotten as good a look at). Aqua was not about to leave her be when her duty as a Keyblade wielder was to-

Terra grabbed her shoulder, “Aqua! The Master said observe!”

Aqua pulled away again, “And the Master wouldn’t leave someone in peril.” 

Her boots (thin leather and hardly gripping or waterproof, if she was being honest) kicked up the snowdrifts of the city as her gaze locked itself upon what tracks there were. She couldn’t jump over fences with the same agility, so she followed hoofprints when footsteps became too hard to follow.

So when she came upon the woman, lying upon the cold ground before the steps of a cathedral, Aqua’s only thought was she wasn’t fast enough. She heard mutterings, but was too focused on how her cold fingertips felt warm in comparison to this life cut so short-

“You there! What are you doing?”

Aqua raised her head. The first thing she noticed was the bearing of the aged man who had been chasing after the woman. A bearing of authority. He was likely someone important on this world, and so her speech cowed to his status instantly, “Sir, I-I saw her running and-”

“We were wondering what was wrong, sir.”

Aqua looked up to see Terra. He looked down at her, then gently bent down and held out his hand, “Come on, Aqua, we saw, let’s go.” His gaze glanced between her and the body in her hands, pity and horror in it as much as hers. “Let’s go.” He said it again, softer. Aqua set the woman down in the snow gently, as if it mattered to someone without life, and accepted Terra’s hand.

The man trotted past them, “She ran, I pursued, I am guiltless.”

Aqua supposed in a certain light that was correct. It was Terra, though, who asked, “Sir, if I may, what is that in your hands?” Aqua noticed it immediately, a bundle of white cloth that- moved?! In the still air they both heard a whimper, a whimper that turned into a full out wail when the man held the child (what else could it be but a child with that confused, wordless, terrified scream?) above a well.

“W-wait!” Aqua cried instantly, “What are you doing?”

“It’s just a baby!” Terra joined her.

“It’s a monster,” The man said, “And I’m sending it back to where it belongs.”

“Hasn’t there been enough today?” Aqua asked, rushing forward. She grabbed the reins of the man’s horse and pulled it and its rider away from the well, “Why must we lose one more life today?”

The man looked down at this woman draped in blue with shining eyes. Her visage looked straight from the halls of Notre Dame behind him, the very image of the mother that had looked down upon him with such grace. Perhaps a sign from God?

Aqua backed away when the man backed up and sneered at the baby once more. He looked at her, then turned to the cathedral.

“The belltower, perhaps...” He murmured. And soon enough the man was on his way, perhaps to talk with the archdeacon who had just opened his door to see what had transpired outside his church.

Terra and Aqua watched with a weary gaze.

“... We did more than observe.” Aqua said softly.

“Master Eraqus doesn’t need to know.” Terra muttered, “We didn’t do that much.”

“We saved a life.” Aqua said with a smile, but only briefly, “But we don’t know who that child will become. An adversary or ally, we won’t know until we see them again. We could’ve radically changed this town by allowing that child to live.”

“As I said,” Terra repeated himself, “All Master Eraqus needs to know is that we observed.”

She looked at Terra like he was crazy, “Observed what? How do we hide how we were involved?”

“The archdeacon convinced him.” Terra helpfully waved his hand in the direction of the men vanishing behind the heavy doors, “We only observed it.”

Aqua shrugged, “I guess so... It’s true enough.” She looked at her feet, “I don’t like lying, Terra.”

“We’re lying to Ven...” He said softly, “I don’t think this is that bad.”

“We’re lying to Ven under the Master’s orders.” Aqua shot back, “This is lying about us doing more than he asked of us.”

“You make it sound so wonderful.” Terra chuckled. “Doing more than he asked...”

“We acted when we shouldn’t have.” Aqua murmured. “But... maybe...” She clasped her hands in front of her, “Look, maybe if we explain it was for a greater good, he’ll understand? We didn’t even draw our Keyblades.”

The two looked at each other.

“I won’t tell if you won’t.”

“I might.”

“Well, Aqua, I’ll be just fine with that if you don’t dump it on me.”

“No promises, Terra, but I might blame us both.”

“Traitor.”

And the Keyblade apprentices walked into an alley, giggling as they summoned their armor to leave this world and observe another.

**Author's Note:**

> Ahh. tfw u adore Hunchback of Notre Dame and also realize Birth by Sleep had a gr8 set up for TAV to be part of the beginnings/backgrounds of Disney flicks and did not use it whatsoever.
> 
> ~~ also tfw u lowkey compare Aqua to the Virgin Mary for reasons ~~


End file.
